Sculptra

Sculptra™ Wrinkle Injections - restoring volume and correcting contour defects

Why Sculptra™?

The natural ageing process causes skin to lose its full, firm, youthful appearance. Skin becomes thinner and loses its elasticity, causing wrinkles and folds to appear. Fat tissue is lost and patients look older. Dr Rita Rakus offers consultations on fillers for wrinkles such as Sculptra™ which can help restore lost volume to the face and smooth deep folds and wrinkles.

Who is sculptra for?

For patients who want to restore volume and contour to their face or lose deep lines and folds.

Areas for Sculptra™ are:

Upper Face

Crow's feet
Orbital rim
Temple
Concavity

Mid Face

Nasolabial folds
Buccal concavity

Lower Face

Marionette lines
Oral rhytides
Glabellar lines

How Sculptra™ works


The patient should be re-evaluated no sooner than 2 weeks after each injection session to determine if additional correction is needed.

After approximately 6 weeks clear improvement can be seen.

Larger volume defects may involve further treatment.

Volume effects for over 3 years

A recent European study has shown:

  • Long-lasting correction of small and large tissue defects.
  • Volume effects were found to persist in numerous patients for over 3 years.
  • Sculptra™ has the potential to improve quality of life.

A profile of individual mean dermal thickness as measured by ultrasound over time: The Vega study

Poly-L-lacticacid implants to correct facial lipoatrophy in 50 HIV-infected patients.

Treatment session - Days O, 15, 30, 45, and 60 (if needed).

Follow-up visits-weeks 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96.

  • Sculptra™ provided a near 3-fold increase from baseline in mean dermal thickness.
  • Increases in mean dermal thickness persisted throughout the study period.
  • All patients markedly improved from baseline.

Sculptra™ a facial aesthetic treatment option:

  • Some facial filling options do not provide long term correction of facial lipoatrophy.
  • Permanent implants and injectable products cannot accommodate continued changes in appearance that occur with age.
  • Compared with fillers PLLA (Sculptra™) provides more suitable volume enhancement to correct the signs of lipoatrophy.

"Injectable PLLA (Sculptra) is not a dermal filler and it should not be used like one"

Sculptra™ safety
Cellulaze is a minimally invasive procedure performed by a qualified doctor. The new laser-assisted Cellulaze anti-cellulite treatment is clinically proven to increase your skin natural thickness for a smoother, healthier look that lasts

Several factors play a role in the appearance of cellulite: ageing, hormones, genetics and dramatic weight changes. They can cause connective tissue bands under the skin to stiffen and the fat cells they surround to become larger and push up into the skin creating the ‘orange peel’ effect on the skin. Cellulaze treats those fibrous bands beneath the skin, while also thickening and adding elasticity to the skin.

  • Contains Poly-L-lactic acid which is biocompatible and biodegradeable.
  • Synthetically produced and allergy testing is unnecessary.
  • Used as a polymer in medicine for 25 years.
  • PLLA has been safely used for about 10 years in orthopaedic and facial surgery and for the correction of scars and wrinkles.
  • Well tolerated.
  • Minimally invasive with a low frequency of side effects.
Over 150,000 patients have been treated world-wide since 1999.More than 17,000 patients have been treated in the UK since 2005.

Overall PLLA (Sculptra) has been found to be well-tolerated and has been shown to have a good safety profile in four clinical trials.

Sculptra Facial Fillers - working naturally to restore facial volume and correct contour defects for longer.

  • Replaces lost volume caused by ageing.
  • Corrects deep folds, wrinkles and contour defects.
  • Increases dermal thickness.
  • Long-lasting natural appearance with results lasting for over 3 years.
  • Biocompatible and biodegradeable.
  • Allergy testing is unnecessary.
  • Used in orthopaedic and facial surgery and for the correction of scars and wrinkles.
  • Low frequency of side effects.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sculptra™ is a synthetic injectable material known as "poly-L-lactic acid". Poly-L-lactic acid is biocompatible (a material that does not harm the body) and biodegradable (able to be broken down by the body). Poly-L-lactic acid has been widely used for many years in dissolvable stitches, soft tissue implants, and other types of implants.

Sculptra™ is injected below the surface of the skin in the area of fat loss. Sculptra™ provides a gradual increase in skin thickness. Visible results appear within the first few treatment sessions. Sculptra™ will not correct the underlying cause of the facial fat loss, but will help improve the appearance by increasing skin thickness in the treated area.

No skin testing is required prior to use.

A qualified practitioner who has been trained to use the correct procedure for Sculptra™ performs the treatment. Your Healthcare Professional will clean your skin and then inject Sculptra™ in the areas of your face being treated.

As with all injections you will feel some discomfort with the Sculptra™ treatment. It may be that you notice a brief burning sensation at the injection site. An ice packed applied after the treatment will help to calm your skin.

If necessary, your practitioner can also give you a local anaesthetic.

Your Healthcare Professional will give you special Sculptra™ aftercare instructions. These include massaging the treated areas of your face in the first few days after the treatment.

All you need is a few minutes twice a day.

The most common side effect with the use of Sculptra™ include injection-related side effects at the site of injection such as bleeding, tenderness or pain, redness, bruising, or swelling. These effects generally resolve in 2-6 days.

No. At your first treatment, it may appear that Sculptra™ worked immediately because of the swelling from the injections and the water used to dilute Sculptra™. In a few days, when the swelling goes down and the water is absorbed by your body you may look as you did before the treatment.

Sculptra™ takes time to work, results should be noticeable after approximately 6 weeks.

Your healthcare professional will see you again in a few weeks to decide if you need more Sculptra™ injections.